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Green Bay has built a football tradition grand enough to unironically call itself "Titletown".
The Packers have own 13 NFL championships, including four Super Bowls -- the last coming in 2010. That is more than enough equity to withstand lean years and even the occasional disappointment.
But "occasional" does not describe the level of playoff heartbreak the Packers and their fans have experienced since that last championship. Indeed, the Packers could now hang a different banner quite unironically, a new title for Titletown:
The most cursed franchise of the past decade-plus.
Patrick Reusse and I talked about this on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast in the context of yet another gruesome playoff finish this weekend for the Vikings' border rival.
Packers fans and the organization itself can certainly gain comfort in knowing this year's team overachieved and sprinted to the finish: After starting 2-5, Green Bay rallied to finish 9-8, pulled an upset at Dallas on Wild Card weekend and had No. 1 seeded San Francisco on the ropes Saturday.
But the Packers might also never play a softer NFC playoff field, nor will this exact team be on the field together again. "There's a lot of promise for the future," head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. "But nothing's guaranteed."
Nobody knows that better at this point than Green Bay and its fans.
After Aaron Rodgers led the upstart Packers to a Super Bowl in just his third year as a starter, the assumption was that it could be the first of many. Instead, the last 13 years have produced:
- An 8-10 overall playoff record.
- An 0-4 record in conference title games.
- An 0-2 record in overtime games.
- Four losses in games the Packers led during the fourth quarter.
The specifically bad losses: Getting blown out at home by the Giants in 2011 after a 15-1 regular season; losing at home to San Francisco on a last-second field goal in 2013; botching an on-side kick and losing the NFC title game to Seattle in 2014; losing the NFC title game at home to Tampa Bay in 2020; allowing a late blocked punt for a touchdown in a 2021 division round loss to San Francisco; and losing Saturday after outplaying the 49ers for much of the day but missing a crucial field goal and failing to capitalize on early and late chances.
Phew.
What could have been an all-NFC North conference title matchup -- a battle of longstanding vs. recent suffering between the Lions and Packers -- failed to materialize.
Another year without a new title banner to hang in Green Bay, unless they want to publicly acknowledge their top recent standing among cursed franchises.
Here are four more things to know today:
*Reusse and I also talked about Joe Mauer's Hall of Fame chances. He's still tracking at around 83% with half the ballots in. We will know his fate for sure Tuesday.
*The Timberwolves unveiled on Monday their new "Backcourt Club," an enhanced premium area in the old restaurant space inside Target Center.
*There was a scary moment after Ohio State fans stormed the court this weekend, with one court-stormer colliding with Iowa star Caitlin Clark.
*Speaking of women's basketball, the Star Tribune's Kent Youngblood will join Tuesday's podcast to talk about the Gophers and the start of WNBA free agency.
